14 DAY TRIAL // Spellcheck and auto-correct features will become available to Internet Explorer users with the next version of the browser.
This is valid not only for Internet Explorer 10, but also for additional applications across the operating system.
At the same time, Windows 8 won’t be the only platform supported by IE10, and as such, customers running IE9’s successor on Windows 7 will also get to benefit from spell checking and auto-correct functionality.
According to Travis Leithead, program manager, Internet Explorer, IE10 on Windows 8 is capable of helping users easily identify misspelled words, fix some typos automatically, but also support corrective actions, when they’re necessary.
The software giant reveals that IE10 brings to the table the first browser-based implementation of auto-correct.
“In some cases, a misspelled word is so common that it is better to just correct the word immediately, rather than wait for you to review the error later In the rare case that auto-correct changes something that you didn’t want changed, you can undo the change via CTRL+Z (Undo) using the keyboard, or bring up the auto-correction context menu using the mouse,” Leithead added.
“In addition to using the mouse, the auto-correction menu can be activated via the keyboard by moving the insertion point inside of the word and pressing SHIFT+F10 (that key combo works to trigger any context menu). From the auto-correction menu you can also prevent the word from being auto-corrected in the future.”
In certain situations, the user is better equipped to judge whether a specific word is a typo, or not. In such cases, IE10 provides customers with the corrective actions menu.
The browser will identify problem-words, underline them with a red squiggly line, and let the user select the correct text from a list displayed via the right-click contextual menu.
Customers also have the possibility to add new words to the Windows 8 built-in custom dictionary, which would subsequently be roamed to all devices, or tell the OS to ignore a specific portion of text.
“In the Windows Developer Preview, all of the dictionaries for all the supported languages are pre-installed. Many of the languages also include different language reform variants that you can toggle between in the re-designed Language control panel,” Leithead said.
“All spellchecking options can be managed in the language control panel in Windows 8. On Windows 7, the spellchecking management experience for IE10 will be provided by the browser instead.”
In addition to what’s provided out of the box, Windows 8’s spellchecking facility is also designed to play nice with 3rd party spellchecking engines, Microsoft notes.
At the same time, the software giant has made it very simple for users to change languages in Windows 8, and have the spellchecking engine adapt instantaneously. By default, the language is determined by the HTML lang attribute, the keyboard input language and Windows display language.
Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) Platform Preview 2 (PP2) Build 10.0.1008.16421 is available for download here.
Windows Internet Explorer 9 RTW for Windows 7 and Windows 7 SP1 is available for download here.
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 Milestone 3 (M3), which includes IE10 Platform Preview 3 (PP3), is available for download here.